Airport runway marker light



y 9, 1953 H. A. CLINE 7 2,639,366

' AIRPORT RUNWAY MARKER LIGHT Original Filed May 23, 1946 lqofi n JNVENTOR Hdr ld A. Cline ATTORNEYS Patented May 19, 1953 Z l y 3 I I Dayton, Ohio, assignor to D5 $9 1 3 when"??? 4 '7 tion- May 23,. IQQB Seri 1 No" ed? 'nd'this -application' Bio-58A)? Vision oim'y (impending bolts '53 for supporting the tube brackets 54 6 6, file May'jihi i lfi, whieh' are'rnoiinteii adjacenteither nq er the unit 200.- Gaseous""discharge*"tubesitdofa character adapted for use in my de'viceare mounted in the brackets IE4' at either side of 't 's b t 1. sourc'eefor air- The tubesjiiiii preferably are of the'type conrticularly' to taininginert gases such as neon; krypton or the i 11 well like, and preferai'bly are onstructed to carry normal energizing ourrentssiibstantially inese'es's of those" c'u'stomary-withfthe neon lights as used signs,- e'tc.'"fin the latter-'oase-a discharge current ofthe-ofdeff .015 to'about'fiofi ampere is comm my use tithas beenfou'nd that improved results are? obtained "with a greater light intensity' 'where this current 1;; inereased up tos eral" hundred milliamperes, varyingufitof /g' nipeie orniore: Whilethe increase'infthe total light developed is not directlyproport'iorialftb tlie'iricrea'se ir'r "current; the Liseoif* se higher" ourr'enVi/alue's" has been i f a 'e highly adir'antagousas' providing for "fa send coliir'nndf light genie controlled high" but-"'- ndmmmem et rnity;- A suitable gimme a Whicli tli'e substantial" ime eevempmem or n'gtli toh'ave the sift atit will --on, mam-rear "fi'o he runway. light of the oper' other objec s and advantages of the-in-yem desiredflhigh penetrativ' 'tion willybe apparentf m' (e follow de- 'la' e'ly pass throughmisfior fo di ipti nkith c nan' Ii ra s 1. he eb gPea e d -idem l l zi assem l Fig-I $9 .1 9 1, prer q efer ds a air =f In Figs. 1 and 2 is shown alight unit 290 which in? the" housing" in assembled position on the comprises a preferred embodiment of my presbase.

ent invention, and which is especially well adapt- The apertures in the side wall opposite th ed for marking the ends of a runway or the end tubes 555 are enclosed b glass plates :95 which of a landing field, in order clearly to identify are held in position by flanges 567, the plates such positions to the pilot. The unit 266 combeing suitably secured thereto with waterprises a base I50 on which there is mounted proofing-material so that the entire assembly is an elongated tube support I51 having inclined weatherproof.

opposite side faces I52 on which are mounted 55 If desired the tubes on opposite sides of the unit may be of the same color or one may d velop a red light and the other a green light. In the latter case the unit may advantageously be placed so that the green light appears to the pilot coming into the runway, and so that he will have a definite marker for the end of the runway and know that having passed such light the plane can be safely landed. At least one and preferably a plurality of such units are located in a line extending across the end of the runway. When leaving either end of the runway, only the red light would be observed and the pilot would thus be warned of the exact location where it was necessary to get the plane off the runway. With the construction shown it is not possible to see both lights at once and the pilot sees either a red or green light depending upon whether he is leaving or ap-l preaching the runway.

For this purpose, when a source of red light is desired, it has been found advantageous to use neon tubes, the neon forming a source of red light which has greater penetrative power than light of a shorter wave length. The develop ment of red light at the source is highly desirable in that it provides much greater light efliciency than is possible where a white light source is utilized in conjunction with red filters for removing light of other colors.

Where a light of green color is desired, such as, for example, for marking the end of the runway on the approach side thereof, a tube containing mercury vapor and operating in the aforementioned increased current ran e may be employed, providing for the development of a high efiiciency source of green light] In the operation of the system shown herein, the operator in the control tower will select a particular runway on which it is desired to have the incoming plane land, as determined by prevailing wind conditions. At the same time the unit or units 200 across the approach end of the selected runnway are energized, showing green toward the incoming aircraft. The usual wind tetrahedron or direction indicator may also be outlined by a series of the elongated gaseous discharge tube lights of this invention and this also supplements the other landing equipment in showing the proper direction for landing.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided a novel light unit which is practical and eflicient in operation and construction; may be economically constructed commercially; and afiords a novel light source adapted to indicate the end of a runway in a novel and expeditious manner.

Thus, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim: V

1. A light source of the type adapted to mark the end of a runway and comprising a base, an elongated supporting member mounted on said base and having inclined opposite side faces, two elongated gaseous discharge tubes, each of said tubes being mounted on a corresponding one of said side faces of said supporting member in parallel relation to said corresponding side face, and to said base, reflectors mounted between said tubes and said supporting member for directing light from said tubes in opposite directions and away from each other, each of said reflectors comprising an elongated cup-shaped member having a closed side and an open side and being mounted between a respective one of said tubes and said corresponding face of said supporting member with said open side disposed in parallel relation to said last mentioned face of said supporting member, and a housing mounted on said base and enclosing said tubes and said reflectors, said housing having two windows therein and a top wall separating said windows, each of said windows being disposed adjacent to the said open side of one of said reflectors in parallel relation to said open side on the side of said reflector opposite to that at which said corresponding face of said supporting member is disposed.

2. A runway marker light for an airfield comprising an elongated base plate adapted to be mounted in substantially flat horizontal position on the end of a runway and in transversely extending relation to the length of said runway, two elongated reflectors mounted on said base, each of said reflectors comprising an elongated cup-shaped member havinga closed side and an open side and being mounted along a respective longitudinal edge of said base in substantially spaced parallel relation thereto with said open side facing outwardly and upwardly therefrom, two elongated gaseous discharge tubesmounted on said base, each of said tubes being disposed outwardly of said reflectors in parallel relation thereto, and a housing mounted on said base enclosing said tubes and said reflectors, said housing having two windows therein and a top wall separating said windows, each of said windows being disposed adjacent to and outwardly of said open side of a corresponding one of said reflectors.

HAROLD A. CLINE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Date France Apr. 8, 1935 

